Instrumental Studies

Maria Schleuning has been violinist for the Dallas-based contemporary music ensemble Voices of Change since 1996, and was appointed Artistic Director in 2009. An advocate of new music, she has worked with many of the leading composers of our day, and has premiered many new works, the most recent being "Dream Catcher," a solo violin work written especially for her as a gift by Augusta Read Thomas. The world premiere performance was on May 3, 2009 in Dallas, TX.

Ania Bard-Schwarz, DMA, has performed in recital and in ensemble on four continents across Asia, Europe, Middle East, North and South Americas. As concertmaster, second violin principal and a member of chamber and symphony orchestras, she has worked under such conductors as: John Axelrod, Niksa Bareza, Sergio Comissiona, Christoph Eschenbach, Hector Guzman, Graeme Jenkins, Krzysztof Penderecki, Helmuth Rilling, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski and Antoni Wit.

Raquel Rodriquez will join the faculty of the UNT College of Music as an Assistant Professor of Trumpet in August 2018. Raquel maintains a versatile career as a performing artist, clinician, educator, and scholar. Raquel is on the faculty of Tennessee Tech, serves as principal trumpet of the Bryan Symphony Orchestra, and performs with the Brass Arts Quintet, both faculty ensembles-in-residence at Tennessee Tech. Raquel is principal cornet with the Southern Stars Symphonic Brass Band and a member of Seraph Brass, a brass quintet comprised of top female brass players in North America.

Caleb Hudson will join the faculty of the UNT College of Music as an Assistant Professor of Trumpet in August 2018. He is the newest member of the Canadian Brass, having graduated from the Juilliard School with both a bachelor and master of music degree. Acclaimed by the New York Times as 'brilliantly stylish," Caleb made his solo debut with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center performing Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2.

Dr. Stacie Mickens joins the UNT College of Music faculty as an Associate Professor of Horn in August 2018. Prior to her appointment at UNT, Stacie Mickens was Associate Professor at the Dana School of Music, Youngstown State University where she taught horn, coached brass chamber ensembles, and performed with the Dana Brass and Dana Woodwind Quintets. She completed her doctorate of musical arts at the University of Michigan as a recipient of the Rackham Fellowship Award.

Clarinetist Phillip O. Paglialonga has quickly emerged as one of the leading performers and pedagogues of his generation. His book, Squeak Big: Practical Fundamentals for the Successful Clarinetist was released in August 2015 by Imagine Music Publishing and has garnered significant praise from leading clarinetists including prominent members of the orchestras in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle, as well as stellar reviews in several major publications.